Reaction
by Neverstop13
Summary: Poseidon, Athena, and Sally's reaction to when they hear about what happened to Percy and Annabeth, and then a short scene about the two in Tartarus. Sad, but heart-warming. One-shot.


Hi,** there! So I'm taking a small break from my two stories and thought of this when reading Mark of Athena again. It's Percabeth and Poseidon/Athena (just a little bit). Anyways, so enjoy! I don't own PJO.**

**(And I apologize if I unleash your feels.)**

* * *

Olympus was buzzing with anticipation and terror and silence. The gods weren't sure what to think, but all they knew was that a lot of people were, once again, in grave danger. And two certain demigods had been sacrificed for it.

Hermes was murmuring with Poseidon in the far corner, away from the few other gods who were arguing about what to do on their thrones.

"—you need to tell her," Hermes told him.

Poseidon had a heavy heart and like the world was on his shoulders. His son was in Tartarus; and there was nothing he could really do to get him back. He nodded and thanked Hermes.

He walked over to where Athena was sitting and laid a hand on her shoulder.

She flinched and shot a glare at him. "What?" she demanded.

Poseidon sat next to her on the armrest of an empty throne. "Athena," he said, "something happened."

"Well, I know that, Poseidon! Why do you think I'm arguing about it?" Athena stood up abruptly and strode away, her toga trailing behind her.

"No," he stood up and followed her. "You don't know all of it."

"What are you talking—?"

"Annabeth," he cut her off and Athena stopped. She twirled around to face him.

"What about her?" Athena asked. She had both fear and anger written on her face.

"Sh-she fell. With Arachne and Percy,"

"What?" she said barely below a whisper and stepped toward him.

"She was following the mark of Athena," he explained, "She fell into Tartarus."

Athena felt like her stomach just dropped out of her stomach. Her facial features began to twitch. "Wh-What?"

The last time she had seen her daughter, she had yelled at her and said some awful things. She wished she could take that back now.

"But," Poseidon laid a hand on her shoulder. "she found the statue. Athena, she's the first and only demigod in hundreds of years to have ever found it."

Pride and joy burst through her. It warmed her heart and she began to smile a little. "She found it?"

Poseidon nodded. "Yes, but, it was too heavy. And she defeated Arachne, but the floor was too thin."

"What about the others? Didn't they find her?" Athena started to panic. She wasn't sure why, she'd never done that before. She guessed it was the fact that, well, her own daughter was in the darkest pit and it was a small chance she would make it alive.

He nodded again. "They did but they couldn't get her in time."

Athena's breath was knocked out of her. And now it was the thought her daughter was there _alone_. She turned away from him, and tried to calm herself.

"Except for my son, Percy. He caught her. They both fell into Tartarus."

Athena stopped again and turned to face him. "H-He did?"

Poseidon pressed his lips together and nodded his head again.

"They're in Tartarus;" she said. "They must be terrified."

"They're going to meet the rest on the other side, in the House of Hades. And they're going to close the Doors of Death. Gaea _will_ be defeated."

"The doors close from both sides though."

"Right now, we're worried on if they get there."

Athena sighed. "This is my entire fault. If I hadn't given her the coin, if I hadn't yelled at her—"

"There was nothing different you could do. It's not your fault. It's Gaea's." Poseidon assured her.

Athena looked away from him. "Thank you, Poseidon,"

"I don't think I'm the one you should be thanking,"

"I'll tell him if he comes back alive." With that, Athena walked away from him.

* * *

There was a knock on Sally's door. She hurried from the kitchen, where she was cooking some dinner for her and Paul, and opened the door.

There appeared a man that seemed all too familiar to her. He almost looked like Percy, but she knew it wasn't him. She knew because of the way he looked at her.

"Poseidon," she whispered. "What are you doing here?" Then it came to her and she gasped. "Did you find Percy? Is he okay? He's not hurt, is he?"

"Sally," Poseidon said, "calm down. I have some news to tell you. It's about Percy and Annabeth."

Sally knew that whatever it was, it probably wasn't good. She caught her breath and stepped aside to allow him in. Paul wasn't home from work yet, so they had the apartment all to themselves.

"What's wrong? Are they okay?"

He cleared his throat. "Please. Sit down,"

Sally gave him a hard stare. She didn't move for a second, but then her face softened as she realized that this must be hard on him as well. She sat down at the small table.

Poseidon sat down across from her and he explained softly and calmly what happened. He first explained that he was at a Roman camp for quest. He explained that Annabeth had to find a statue and that Arachne was there. He explained that Percy had been the only one to catch her, but they both fell into Tartarus.

Sally stood from her chair with her hand clamped over her mouth and there were so many tears that they flowed over her fingers, leaving salty tracks everywhere on her skin. Her throat closed up and this was the most danger Percy had ever gotten into—the deepest and darkest pit and even though Poseidon never said it, she knew that he might not come back alive.

She leaned against the counter and Poseidon apologized.

"For what?" She asked. "There was nothing you or anyone could do; I understand." Her voice cracked.

Poseidon wasn't sure what else to say. "Will you be all right?"

Sally didn't answer at first. She just couldn't wrap her brain around the fact that he and Annabeth were down there. But she knew them; and together, they were unstoppable. They had each other's backs, she knew that, and she knew they loved each other. Sally knew they would be all right.

She knew Percy would do anything, no matter the costs, to save the world and help people and get them to safety.

Sally also knew that Annabeth would be there to make sure he didn't do anything _too_ crazy.

She could trust them to make it safely and to be all right.

This seemed to calm her down a little more and she answered that she would be fine. She decided not to tell Paul—at least not tonight.

She turned back around and found Poseidon staring at her solemnly.

"You should leave. I'm sure they need you up there." She said in a hoarse voice.

Poseidon nodded and stood. He told Sally goodbye and left. She was alone in the house again.

Sally made her way to their grand bedroom and to her nightstand. Sitting there was a picture of Percy and her. They were at Montauk, and it was when he came back from his first year of camp. He was so happy and young and they had gotten rid of Gabe, so she was happy as well.

She choked out a sob. She missed those days that she could spend with him. Now she never saw him in summer and she was still afraid that she'd never see him again. Sally couldn't stop the tears as they kept coming and she hugged the picture close to her.

Then she saw another one. One with Annabeth in it as well. It was before their third year. Before they were marked with those white strands in their hair.

She knew that this time, they might come back with worst marks. And this time, they might be permanent. Sally cried, but then the sight of them together gave her confidence again.

Sally prayed that he would be all right. She prayed and hoped that he would make it safely. She didn't care about them saving the world even though, at that moment, she felt as if she could take that shotgun again and kill Gaea herself.

But she couldn't do anything except pray. And that's what killed her inside.

* * *

Annabeth felt numb, but she could feel the pain like a wave was crashing into her.

She smelled sea salt water.

She heard a voice saying her name.

She felt someone squeezing her hand and pulling her up.

"Oh, gods," the voice said, "Don't have any ambrosia…" he mumbled.

Annabeth tried to blink her eyes, but she couldn't. It was all dark all around her even though she could swear that she had her eyes open. It hurt with each breath she took. "P-Percy?"

"Annabeth! Come on, you have to wake up. Are you okay enough to stand?"

"You can be such a Seaweed Brain sometimes," she croaked. "Of course I can't. I broke my ankle."

"I know, but I can help you up." He said.

She groaned. "Percy, I can't," she began to cry, but then she took in a deep breath and told herself that crying wasn't going to make anything better.

"We have to try. Come on, Annabeth, we need to move. We can't stay in here forever. I don't know how long it'll take to get to the doors."

Annabeth groaned again and tried to sit up, but it felt like an axe was splitting open her head. She felt like she could faint and if there were black spots in her vision, she couldn't see those either.

"It's okay. We're going to be alright. Just take deep breaths. Get yourself under control," he tried to soothe her.

"Are _you_ okay?" she asked.

"Just some sprained bones and bruises, but I'll be fine. I'm worried about you."

She finally got her breathing under control and she felt that she was in his arms. It felt good and she was glad that he was right there by her side. "At least we're together."

There was a roar in the distance—wherever that was.

"That probably won't be for long. We need to move,"

Percy stood and Annabeth leaned into him as he brought her up with him. She cried out, but she managed to stifle it as she buried her face into his shoulder.

"Okay, okay," he was panting, "we're good. Are you good?"

She nodded into his ripped shirt.

"Okay. Let's try walking," he stumbled forward and she tried the same. She used him as a crutch and hobbled forward, her foot only barely touching the ground. She cried out again.

"We'll stop," Percy said.

"No!" Annabeth protested. "We have to keep going."

"Annabeth—"

"Come on, take a step. Right foot, left foot."

Percy kissed her cheek. "You're a genius." And he took a step forward.

They hobbled a little further and Annabeth tried to count their steps. They were at three steps and she was already feeling so light-headed. She urged herself to keep moving.

She huffed as a thought occurred to her. "Why is it always us that gets into these situations?"

Percy only cracked a small smile and then another thought occurred to him. "I wonder what the gods are thinking right now…"

"Probably arguing." Annabeth grumbled.

"Maybe," he said, "but I hear my dad again,"

Annabeth paused for a moment, and she thought she could hear something as well. But it wasn't a man, it was a woman and she wasn't sure if she was imagining it or if it was Gaea talking to them again.

But she was positive it wasn't Gaea.

She knows that because the voice was saying, _I'm so sorry, Annabeth. You're going to get through this._

Annabeth gave a small smile. She knew who the voice was coming from. "I bet you can." She told Percy.

Then Percy stopped hearing his father's voice telling them to keep moving on. He heard a softer voice, one that soothed him and gave him more confidence.

It was his mom telling him to just be safe.

And to listen to Annabeth.

He couldn't stop the smile on his face either.

And the two kept stumbling through the darkness.

* * *

**I cried a little while writing this...**

**Don't get mad at me when I say this, but I didn't really sob or cry when Percy and Annabeth fell. I mean, I did react - big time. But right before I read that Percy let go, my mind did this rewind. I had to flip back and read it over again because I couldn't believe that it was happening. And when the chapter ended, I stared at "As long as we're together," blankly and was absolutely speechless.**

**Now looking back on it, I think I might've gone into shock? Or maybe blanked out for a couple minutes when it hit me. After I realized that, I choked out a sob and teared up and there were a couple fallen tears and screamed, "NO! No, this can't be right!" **

**But I still cannot wrap that around my brain, that they're in Tartarus.**

**I wish that House of Hades came out like, yesterday. **

**Anyways, I'm going to stop rambling now. **

**Please review! :)**


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